Site seems to be buckling under the load, so I can't access it at the moment, but there's one big question I'm curious to have answered: is this supposed to be a full model of the island, or just the part of it above ground?

Because as cool as the latter would be, I'd be that much more interested in seeing a fully realized rendering of all the tunnels criss-crossing the island, if only because a complete depiction of such is much more difficult for the public to currently access.

bcsizemo
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2014-03-05T23:29:28Z —
#3

I always ask myself, "What's the purpose of this?" when I see projects like this. Most of the time it comes back to the same thing, training for the zombie apocalypse.

newliminted
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2014-03-05T23:32:56Z —
#4

There can be no reason to do this except for planning a terrorist attack. I sincerely hope the DHS gets on this immediately. I say this without a trace of detectable sarcasm, so you must not doubt my sincerity.

Indeed. (Looks like this bit from a sidebar got snagged by your selection when copying the text from the article.)

LDoBe
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2014-03-06T01:07:14Z —
#10

227 square meters? That doesn't make sense to me... A block in minecraft is like 1 Cubic foot (I think it's bigger than that, but let's use round numbers.) At 227 Square meters that comes out to a square plot of land slightly less than 50 feet long on each edge. You can't build a 1:1 scale model of even a single skyscraper with that little floorspace, much less a stadium

These reported numbers are way off. probably the best you can do to model Manhattan on a grid of 50x50 is a very rough topographic map. You would certainly not see individual buildings.

newliminted
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2014-03-06T01:17:17Z —
#11

What? No. Really. The only possible reason anyone would want to recreate a real place inside a computer simulation is for terror purposes. They are obviously planning an attack. We've seen this behavior before in Second Life, WoW, SIMS unleashed, uh, Manyland, and Conway's Game of Life. Our government needs to shut this down immediately before someone gets hurt.

GilbertWham
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2014-03-06T01:18:18Z —
#12

Whhhhooooossssssshhh.

Jim_Kirk
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2014-03-06T01:49:10Z —
#13

Ultimately we could populate it with creatures that evolve to ponder whether or not their universe is just a big computer simulation.

ethicalcannibal
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2014-03-06T03:26:53Z —
#14

I'd love to download that map. It's the closest I'll ever get to Manhattan.

abstract_reg
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2014-03-06T03:34:47Z —
#15

Conway's Game of Life! I knew there was something sinister about how that game sees everything in only black and white.

newliminted
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2014-03-06T03:54:10Z —
#16

awjt
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2014-03-06T04:25:45Z —
#17

Hand build? You mean like hand-punching punch cards because it's fun on the weekend?

Here's what I don't understand. He's a CS student. Shouldn't he be looking for a way to take raw google map data and programmatically turn it into mindcrap?

jhbadger
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2014-03-06T05:42:52Z —
#18

Because that would take all the fun out of it? It's like saying, "why cook meals when you could just go to a restaurant and have it done automatically for you?"

awjt
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2014-03-06T05:58:35Z —
#19

No way. It would be like designing a completely automated top notch restaurant, and then being the only diner in there while your machine that you created makes a masterpiece just for you. And THEN sharing it with your friends after you've had your fill. What do you think the first guy who invents a holo deck is gonna do? Call up John and Mike and say, guys! You gotta see this! nnnnnnnnnnope. He's going to get that place so sticky, not even Ron Jeremy would want to go in there.

IanMcLoud
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2014-03-06T07:38:27Z —
#20

The folks at Rockstar games should take the hint and and make a 1:1 Grand Theft Auto of any major city. If I'm going to spend/waste countless hours exploring and ultimately memorizing game worlds, it would really be sweet if that knowledge had practical application. "I've never been to St. Louis, but I know its streets like the back of my hand!"